Colony
by Fan Fic Addict-Gabriel 3
Summary: In the end, Sora made the final choice. But it was the wrong one. Now all the worlds have become one and are a Heartless colony. R&R.
1. Chapter One: Sora's Monologue

**Warning:** I might not finish this story. This just randomly popped up in my head. The only possible way for me to finish is if I see that people really want me to finish it, otherwise I'll just write the few chapters that spring to my mind.

**Chapter One:** _Sora's Monologue_

What have I done? I thought I was the Keyblade's chosen one. I thought my actions would always be correct. But now I have made the wrong choice. And now…well now…everyone has suffered because of my wrong decision. Although I do justify my choice, I think that justified or unjustified, it doesn't really matter now. I have hurt the ones I love, and the ones that trusted me. In the end…I have failed them all.

I had two options. The two decisive options. The final options that would determine the worlds' fate. But I chose selfishly. I thought mostly of myself and why I wanted the decision I made. I did not think how it would affect the rest…I only thought of how it would affect my life and satisfy my desires.

Apparently the Keyblade was wrong in choosing me. I wasn't the true Key Master after all. I guess we'll never know who it really was. Was it Riku? Was it King Mickey? Or was it…? No. It couldn't have been. Now I'm not even thinking straight. It was probably anyone who would've made the right choice that I didn't make. Well now it's just too late.

I had many friends throughout my years as the Key Master. At first it started with Riku. He was the best friend I could ever ask for. There were also Selphie and the others; but Riku was the best of all. Then came Kairi. I thought she was strange at first. And while Riku taught her around, I didn't really accept her. I thought she was tearing me and Riku apart. But when I accepted her, I became more involved with her. And by the time I realized it, she _did_ tear Riku and me apart. But that was pre-Keyblade anyways.

Donald and Goofy. Probably _the_ most loyal friends one could ask for. I do forgive them for leaving me at first in Hollow Bastion. They were confused, as were we all. But I'm sure they realized that we were inseparable. And boy we were. We just didn't know it. Behind all the loyalty, friendship, and bondage it was nothing more than destiny if you stripped all those other qualities from our relationship. It was destiny that brought us together. And destiny that brought us apart. It all started with that damn Keyblade…

Ah yes, the Keyblade. It was the best friend I have ever had. It protected me so many times I can't even count them. Somehow such an insignificant thing such as an enlarged key shaped my fate so perfectly it seemed like it was my past, present, and future. Which it ironically turned out to be, in fact. The Keyblade had started it all, long before I even wielded it. Oh wait, I'm starting to feel…sleepy…I…ah well…the time has come…


	2. Chapter Two: Prologue

**Chapter Two:** _Prologue_

It has been a thousand years since the Legendary Key Master "saved" us all. No… That's not what happened. This _is_ no fairy tale. This is the real world. And we all know, that in the real world, there _are_ no happy endings. Nobody knows for sure the name of the Key Master. But everyone honors him. I seriously do not know why, he is the main reason why we're a colony now.

"We're all human" They all say when referring to our "savior".

Yeah, and those that rule us now are all Heartless. Wake up! Siru, Riku, Micko, or whatever the Key Master's name was is the reason why we're under control by this evil! Sheesh, I never knew people worshipped anti-heroes. In the end, the Key Master had two options: that the worlds be separated as they always were but this time with _indestructible_ barriers that not even the _Heartless_ could break, or that all the worlds combined and made one big planet without barrier—the Keyblade wielder chose the latter.

Yet, people honor him as a legend, as a myth, and as a hero. He was nothing but a wrongly chosen, naive, brat who thought of himself only when deciding the fate of us all. After the worlds were re-forged into one planet, it was only a matter of months before the Heartless re-grouped and prepared an incredibly large amount of armies to attack us. We had no chance, us humans eventually had to submit to their demands or we would all become Heartless. The leader of them all—Ansem—promised that humans and Heartless would co-exist peacefully as long as we obeyed him. Ansem then gathered all the Keyblades and became a God. In fact, he became _the_ God. He was immortal, and he would spread his evil throughout the universe forever. Lord Ansem as he was called among his followers has since then become the Earth's sole ruler. Rumor has it he has devoted himself to live a quiet and desolated life in the castle he once ruled—Hollow Bastion.

But just because we are under Ansem's siege doesn't mean we humans haven't lived our lives. We live normally but we have to pay heavy taxes or our hearts shall be taken from us, but at least we can still have jobs and all as long as it doesn't conflict with Ansem's laws. That means that at least one Heartless will always be watching us from the shadows. There have been great inventions; well of course, it's been one thousand years. We now have great technology: advanced hovering vehicles called Flyers, hi-tech guns, and many more. Heartless have also evolved and taken more human shape but without features. Just a dark version of people with those bright, yellow eyes. So we also have "police" which are actually those evolved Heartless that make sure we don't break the rules of Ansem's dictatorship-like government.

There have been rebellions before, but all of them have been caught and have been executed or converted. There is no prison or jail; it's either conversion or execution to those who break the law. Depending on what Ansem's officials decide. My name is Nick Bolsey, and I am a 30-year-old historian. I teach at a university and I have vast knowledge of both eras: B.A.(Before Ansem) or pre-Heartless, and A.H.(After Heartless)or post-Ansem. This is the Heartless Colony Earth. Welcome to the year 1000 A.H.


	3. Chapter Three: Rebellious Ideas

**Chapter Three:** _Rebellious Ideas_

"7: 00 A.M. wake up!"

Nick struggled to open his heavy eyelids. He opened them slowly listening to his alarm clock repeat the same words over and over again.

"7: 00 A.M. wake up!"

He grabbed the clock and pressed a small button under it to turn the alarm off. He stood up and went to the bathroom a few inches away. He washed his face and took out a small box about the size of a bubble gum wrapper. He opened the small carton box and took out a pill he put in his mouth after squeezing it tightly. After thirty seconds, he spat a white liquid out and in an instant he had clean teeth. After changing, he took his briefcase and a book called "Legends and Myths of the Keyblade". He got into his Flyer parked in his garage and set the coordinates to the university. He turned the automatic pilot on and read the book on his way to work.

After parking, he exited hisFlyer and met with one of his most brilliant students, Stephen Carlski. The student greeted him cheerfully and approached him quickly.

"Hey Mr. Bolsey, how are you?"

"I'm fine Steve; I'm just in a hurry."

"Why's that?" The teenager asked.

"Because your history class begins in five minutes."

"Oh shoot!" Carlski exclaimed as he then rocketed into the building.

Later that morning, in the second hour of history class, Nick asked a question about the Keyblade and the Key Master.

"So, does anyone know exactly why the Keyblade was given to the Key Master and not to his friend?"

Of course, Steve was the only one to know the answer. Nick rolled his eyes and sighed before selecting Stephen.

"Because his friend chose the road of darkness?"

"Correct Mr. Carlski." The unsurprised teacher replied.

Right at that moment, the alarm rang.

"History class over, get ready for math; students." The computerized voice said.

All the students began to get up immediately. But Nick stopped them before they could leave.

"Just remember you have a test tomorrow. So study from pages 106 to 130."

After the reminder, the history teacher let his desperate students run to their lockers. Later that day, when all his classes were over, Bolsey left to the parking lot to leave the university when he heard a man screaming. He was about to get into his Flyer but he let go of the door and turned his head towards the sound.

"No please, no! Don't—AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!" A frightened man pleaded for mercy.

It was a Heartless. Obviously, the man had broken the law and had now gotten his heart taken away from him. It would not be the first time Nick would've had to witness such horror, in fact, it happened on a daily basis. Nick was sick and tired of having to see such things on what should be a normal day; but then again there was nothing he could do…or was there?

"No…" Nick shrugged it off.

He exited the parking lot and drove home. The next day, Nick walked slowly across the classroom, collecting the exams as he went.

"Mr. Carlski, your test please." He patiently remarked.

"Oh, yes." Stephen woke up from a daydream.

Of course the wise Mr. Carlski had finished the exam a long time ago, so he just waited for the time to be over and before he knew it he was daydreaming. After having collected all of the tests, he sat on his chair and began correcting them right away on his desk.

"Let's see…" Nick whispered under his breath as he began to check each test.

After ten minutes or so he reached Steve's test. Ready to just write down a big one-hundred on the test, he was a bit surprised to see the answers on Carlski's test:

_1: Why did the Key Master fight the Heartless? To ensure the worlds' safety._

_2: How did the Keyblade wielder get presented with the two final options regarding the worlds' fates? When he finally reached the world of light, the unknown entity inside offered him the two options that the light could spread across the universe._

_3: Why did the wielder choose the option of creating one planet made up of all the worlds without a barrier protecting it? He chose it because he thought it was the best thing for the worlds._

Nick hesitated, but he marked questions one and three wrong. Ever since he was first told the legend of the Keyblade and its wielder as a child, he knew that the wielder wasn't the hero everyone thought he was. He was the cause of what was going on now. It was all the Key Master's fault.


	4. Chapter Four: Truth

**Chapter Four:** _Truth_

It had been three weeks since Nick gave that history exam. Since then, Nick's hatred for the Key Master started to show in his classes. Every time he asked a question and a student answered it in a way that glorified the Key Master he would say it's wrong and angrily reveal the "correct" answer. Of course the most aware of all this was Steve and he began to get worried. So during recess, he decided to confront his history teacher about it.

A knock was heard on the door of Nick's office.

"Come in." The teacher said.

Steve entered the office closing the door behind him quietly. He was afraid something bad would happen after this since he had seen how angry Nick seemed to get when regarding the Key Master and his actions. He gulped and took a seat.

"So Stephen, what brings you to my office?"

"Well…" the student hesitated, "it regards hi-history class…"

Nick arched an eyebrow indicating he didn't quite understand completely what the whole ordeal was about. Steve gulped again and continued.

"We-well you are a great teacher and all…but…when it comes to the…K-Key Master you kind of…well…get…angry…"

The brilliant teenager had really hit a nerve now. Nick tried to control himself. After all, he was in a school, in his office, and he was talking to a student.

"Well I don't see why I shouldn't get angry when most of you youngsters picture him to be a hero…" The teacher replied.

"Excuse m-me sir…but isn't he?"

"No, of course not! I thought that you, out of all the students, would see that he was nothing more than a fraud, and a selfish person!"

"B-but most historians say…" Stephen was interrupted by an infuriated Nick.

"Those historians are wrong!"

Then there was utter silence. Nick realized he had lost his temper again. He stared at Stephen's scared face. The silence remained, and Steve slowly began to get up and leave the office without one more word.

"Oh no…" The history teacher muttered.

The next morning, as soon as Bolsey got to the university, he was called to Mr. Shawmore's—the principal—office. He knew this couldn't be good…

"Yes Mr. Shawmore?" A nervous Nick asked as he sat down.

"Mr. Bolsey, I have received a "few" complaints regarding your temper during your history class. May I ask why this is?"

"Indeed Mr. Shawmore, you see, it angers me that youngsters these days are…" Nick hesitated to continue.

"Yes?" The principal questioned as he raised his right eyebrow.

"It angers me that students are getting taught that the Key Master was a hero."

"Hasn't it _always_ been like that Mr. Bolsey?"

Nick didn't answer.

"Well?"

"Yes, it's just that…"

"I don't want excuses Mr. Bolsey. Go get some anger management or some other kind of help but you are fired from this university." Principal Shawmore declared firmly.

"Yes principal…"

That night, Nick read a book called "The Mysteries of the Keyblade Legends" quietly at his house in the study room. He was halfway across the book and he reached a new chapter. That book was written by a late friend of his and the chapter he was reading contained information he had never heard of before regarding the book's subject:

_The Enigmatic Men_

_Little is known about this cult-like group that has come to be known as the Enigmatic Men by those few interested in the mysteries of the past. The myth says that the Enigmatic Men have existed since pre-Heartless times and were actually linked to the Key Master's adventures during that era. It is not known exactly how they aided in the outcome of the journeys, but without them it wouldn't have been the same. They seem to have interfered or actually began to exist some believe, after the period of time known as the Opening of Kingdom Hearts by historians. A year or so after that period a few of these Enigmatic Men began to take notice in history. Some of these members of the group include an Enigmatic Man who wore a blindfold, while another had two Keyblades—Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Nothing but speculation follows the Enigmatic Men's appearances throughout time although it is known that they actually existed._

_Most of the Enigmatic Men's actions had effect on history after the Opening of Kingdom Hearts although one made their appearance before that period. During one of the Key Master's journeys into Hollow Bastion one of the Enigmatic Men who apparently seems to be the first to have ever appeared in one of the Key Master's adventures encountered him in a battle. Although it seems that the Enigmatic Man was just testing the Keyblade wielder. These members of the cult also seem to have had strange powers of teleportation, or maybe it was very powerful magic. Much questions surround these cloaked figures, hence the name—Enigmatic Men. There is also a pure rumor from occult fanatics that they still roam the planet and are somewhere in the forests near Hollow Bastion._

"Hmm…" Nick mumbled, "That sure was an interesting read."

Nick put the bookmark on the page he left off and closed the book. He needed to do some research on everything regarding the Key Master to prove his long-time hunch. If he proved he was right all along, he himself would mark history and be begged for apologies from everyone who thought he was crazy. He turned off the lamp on his desk and headed for his bedroom to get some sleep. Next morning he would start some deep investigation on these so called "Enigmatic Men" hoping to at last find the truth.


	5. Chapter Five: NEO

**Chapter Five:** _N.E.O._

"I'm almost there…"

And almost there he _was_. It was around evening when Nick mounted his Flyer and took off towards Hollow Bastion Residence. In that castle, was where Ansem was still rumored to be; but also, in the forests that surround that castle is where the Enigmatic Men are supposed to be as well. So many mysteries in one place—Hollow Bastion sure promised to be interesting.

"Whoa!!!" Nick shouted at the top of his lungs.

He thought he had seen a man right in front of the dirt road ahead of him, so he instantly began to drift left to avoid crashing him. He closed his eyes and couldn't see if he had made contact with the person or not. After the Flyer had made a halfway rotation, he got off of it to see if he had hit the poor man.

"What the…!?"

But he was surprised at what he saw. The man was gone. He searched around by foot, making his way forward to the castle. He called many times but got no reply. So he shrugged it off. He had far more important things to do. He had to find the Enigmatic Men. He continued to walk into the woods and began to jog after he saw it was getting late. Night had almost befallen Hollow Bastion and he didn't want to be caught up in the middle of the woods at night. But after half an hour of searching, he found a cave.

"Ah…finally!" The excited and exhausted Bolsey cried.

He slowly made his way into the cave. He had to watch his head because he was going through a small tunnel. After reaching the end of the tunnel, he found a small cavern. He'd seen bigger caves before, so this was a disappointment. There were chalk paintings all over the place. Most where childish babbling, but there was one specific painting that caught his eye.

"Well what do we have here?"

Nick bent down and touched the painting slightly with his index and middle fingers. He examined the painting. It had two children, a boy and a girl, apparently sharing a star-shaped fruit. He wasn't an expert at botany, but something did tell him that the fruit didn't exist anymore. Then, the strange got stranger.

"What!? Where did this door come from?" The puzzled historian asked himself in shock.

At the end of the cave, there was this strange door. It was wooden and had thin yellow outline around it. Nick approached it and tried to find a doorknob.

"No doorknob huh? Well that's certainly new…"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen-like object. At the tip that faced the door was a red plastic part. He pressed a button at the opposite end and a flashing light appeared for a second at the red plastic part. He has just photographed the door and then did the same with the painting of the boy and the girl.

"I better get going." Nick told himself.

As he headed back to the small tunnel and began to bend his head, he heard a creaking noise coming from behind. He turned around and was perplexed by what he had just seen. The door had opened! Nothing could be seen from within, it was all dark. Pitch black, in fact. But Nick took a big gulp and entered the door which slammed closed behind his back as soon as he was inside.

"Where am I?"

It was completely dark. Nick couldn't even see his own hand. And every word he said echoed about seven times. But then a huge sphere of light appeared amidst the darkness. The sphere had tiny dots with bright colors on it. Nick slowly walked towards it. He gently lifted his hand and was about to touch it before a voice was heard.

"Do not touch it!" The voice ordered.

The sphere began to shrink. It shrank and shrank until it was a small ball of light. In mid-air, a jar popped out of nowhere trapping the light inside it. Then a hand with a black glove on it appeared. It held the jar by the bottom. And then an arm started to grow from the hand. The pitch black place also began to change into some sort of small room. It was made of ancient, crumbling brick walls and had a pattern of torches on the walls illuminating the place. It had only one window, and it was at the end of the room. There was also a long table. With about six wooden chairs all around it. Nick wasn't sure how many there were; he was busy trying to get his jaw back up. At the long end of the table the floating arm continued to hold the jar. A whole body began to grow from the arm and attach to it. Before Nick knew it, a full person was standing in front of him, covering the window. It was a man dressed in full black. The coat had many zippers, and a cloak covered the man's face completely. He also had zipped, black boots and the coat was similar to that of a friar but completely black. The man shadowy man took a few steps forward and put the glass jar with the light sphere still inside it on the table and sat down.

"Who are you, intruder?" The man asked.

It was the exact same voice that ordered Nick not to touch the sphere earlier. Nick struggled to speak but eventually swallowed the notch he had in his throat.

"M-my name is N-N-N-Nick."

"Come forth Nick." The man's deep voice said.

Nick walked towards the cloaked figure.

"Take a seat."

Nick gulped and sat next to the unknown man.

"Do you know what this is, Nick?" The mystery man said, referring to the sphere in the jar.

Nick shook his head. He was too nervous and probably horrified to speak.

"Ah…so you thought you'd just mess with such a fragile thing? Without knowing any of the consequences?"

Nick didn't answer.

"You are a fool, Nick. Just like any other human. I suppose any other human would've done the same. Curiosity is worth dying for I guess. Anyways Nick, you must have questions to ask me. Ask them wisely."

Nick hesitantly looked at the hooded person and began to speak.

"Who are you?" Nick questioned.

"That does not matter."

"What is this place?"

"That does not matter."

"How did I get here?"

"Irrelevant."

"Ugh…" And annoyed Nick mumbled, "Why am I even _here_?"

Nick got tired of playing games and got up from his seat. He was going to walk away to…somewhere but the unknown person reacted.

"Take a seat!!!!!!!"

He somehow pulled Nick through thin air and forced him to sit back down. Nick was shocked of course.

"How did you…"

"Not important."

"Then what _is_ important damn it!?" An impatient Nick asked furiously.

"What that light is."

"Then what is it?"

"It's the planet's heart. It's sealed so the Heartless cannot get through. If you touched it your whole body would've been deteriorated in a split-second."

There was an utter silence as Nick stopped to think.

"Oh… Well I… I guess I owe you my thanks." He nervously remarked.

"Not so. You would've become one of us. The more of us, the better."

"The more of _us_? You mean there are more like you?"

"Oh yes, many. Indeed."

"What exactly _are_ you?"

"We are shells. We are shells of those who have been taken their hearts from. The heart becomes a Heartless, the soul becomes a Nobody, and the body becomes a mere shell."

"Well, according to the Ansem theory, aren't shells supposed to be in another dimension?"

"Yes…but we had to come to this dimension. Something greatly dangerous was happening to the worlds. We came here and now we can't go back. So basically, in Ansem's terms we are the Non-Existent-Ones. N.E.O."

Suddenly, as soon as the hooded man finished that last sentence, everything began to disappear. The room, the jar, the sphere, and Nick was back in the cave facing the opened door. Amidst the darkness the figure of the shell could be seen among the shadows. And one phrase echoed throughout the cave.

"We are the Organization."

Then the door finally slammed shut. Nick slowly walked backwards and bent his head. He left through the tunnel without one more word said.


	6. Chapter Six: Namine

**Chapter Six**: _Namine_

Nick made his way into the Hollow Bastion residence. He realized that the man he had seen on the dirt road earlier was the N.E.O. He was getting to the bottom of this all, even though he still had some questions that severely needed answering. When he reached the castle, he found out it had a doorbridge. Separating him from the castle was a classic river—but this was no ordinary river.

"In the name of…" The dumbfounded professor muttered.

It was a river made up of a black, gooey substance. If you looked closer, you'd be able to see yellow marble-like spheres shining from underneath the surface. But Nick was horrified to see what they really were. Those weren't bright yellow stones…those were Heartless eyes!

"Dear Keyblades!" Nick exclaimed.

The river was a Heartless river, and anyone who fell on it would become one of them. Since nobody was guarding the doorbridge, nobody would be able lower the doorbridge. He would have to find another way into Ansem's "palace".

"Great… Now where do I go?"

Nick searched for fifteen minutes and circled the residence once and still didn't find any apparent second-hand route into the castle.

"You will never find a way in." A voice said from behind.

"What the—Who's there?"

Nick wasn't surprised to see the cloaked man this time. He obviously couldn't tell if it was the same person or somebody else, and he assumed that all of the Enigmatic Men would have the same deep voice.

"Ansem's castle is unreachable. It is nothing but a waste of time to try to enter."

These hooded people were really starting to annoy Nick with their know-it-all personalities.

"Thanks for the tip…" Nick said sarcastically.

"The only way into the castle is by that doorbridge."

"Really? Wow, you really are a wise guy."

The emotionless unknown ignored Nick and once again used his supernatural abilities to control gravity and seemed to pull the doorbridge down. A loud thud echoed throughout and the Enigmatic Man lowered his hand again. Nick tilted his head to face the N.E.O.

"How did you…"

"Unimportant." The man said and then disappeared into thin air.

Nick stared at the spot where the shell stood a second ago. How did the Enigmatic Men have such powers?

"Well… As he said, right now it doesn't matter. I better get into the castle."

Nick entered the castle, and as soon as he did, the doorbridge closed itself right away. Concentrated on seeking the answers he was looking for, Nick ignored the new strange thing; having seen weirder things that same day. But the castle was very dark. It was already nightfall, and he could barely see the crumbling brick walls. But then, torches on the wall lit themselves and illuminated the place. It was a huge room, with a throne at the very end. Nick walked towards the throne checking every little detail about the gigantic room.

"Well what do we have here?"

There was a letter on the throne's seat. It was stamped with the Heartless symbol. Nick struggled to open it, but when he did, he pulled out a very old paper that he had to touch with the tips of his fingers in order for it not to break.

_Dear Ansem,_

_I send this to you for when you return from the Twilight. You have done a great job, and the Organization has almost reached its goal. While you are gone, the Organization will have surely completed its mission. Then, when you return, you will tell us how we can return to our dimension. Sora has almost reached the door of light, and then he'll be able to hand over the final Keyblade to Riku. When the real Key Master has it, the Organization will take it from him; and all the Keyblades will finally be ours. All of us await your return from the Twilight, Lord Ansem. Then our pact will be finished. You will have all the Keyblades, and you will tell us how to return to the Twilight. I hope __you find whatever it is you seek for. _

_ Namine_

"Ansem is in the Twilight?" Nick asked himself under his breath.

"No." A voice answered.

But this voice was different. And the person it was coming from was different. It was a N.E.O. but slightly shorter than Nick. It also had a female voice. A soft voice; different from that of the other Organization members. Nick couldn't help but start to interrogate.

"Who are you?"

"I am…"

The unknown removed the coat's hood to reveal herself. She had long, blonde hair slightly beyond her shoulders, and she was staring at the floor.

"…Namine." She finished.

"You're the one who wrote the letter!"

"Yes, but that was a long time ago."

"What happened since then?"

"Ansem betrayed us—all of us. He left this dimension and never returned. So the Non-Existent-Ones that came to this realm never found a way back. Including myself."

"You're a N.E.O.?"

"Yes, among others."

"Why did you all come to this realm?"

"We had plans for the Keyblade wielders. We succeeded, but we never found a way back to our realm."

"And why don't you just live a new life here instead of being so melancholic?"

"Because they would find us if we did."

"Who?"

Before Namine could answer that question, Heartless began to appear out of nowhere. Small, pitch black portals opened on the floor everywhere, and Heartless just came out of them. They waited for yet more to come and prepared to attack while they did.

"I'm sorry, but I must leave before they find me."

"Wait!" Nick cried out loud, "Where's Ansem!?"

Part of Namine's body had already vanished. Soon, only her floating head was left.

"Wait! Namine! Please, come back! Answer me!"

She continued to stare at the floor, but she replied slowly.

"Paradise…" She whispered.

The Heartless were now all gathered together, and they began to leap into the air towards Nick. But Namine reappeared in front of him and raised both hands open wide. The Heartless all froze in the air. Namine squeezed her hands into fists and released them as they were before again. All the Heartless flew aback, soaring high into the air. Then, another hoodless Organization member appeared in one of the corners of the room. He squeezed his fists like Namine did and released them. Fire began to fill the room. All of the Heartless burst into flames as they perished into dust that blew away. Afterwards, the fire extinguished itself. Nick caught a glimpse of the unknown before he raised his hood and covered his head. He teleported towards him and Namine and looked down at his female companion.

"Come Namine, leave this human alone. You know we shouldn't make direct contact with them." He remarked with the same deep voice the other hooded men spoke.

"Axel…" Namine whispered.

The Enigmatic Man Namine had just referred to as "Axel" looked back at Nick.

"Leave Hollow Bastion, mortal. That is your final warning. Do not approach this castle again or we won't be here to protect you next time."

As they began to vanish, Namine spoke one final time.

"We will meet again Nick."

And after that, they vanished. Alone, Nick whispered in solitude.

"Paradise…"

He then picked up the envelope with the letter inside. He put it in his pocket and left back to the city. He would take the envelope as proof and tell everything he had just experienced that day to Steve.


	7. Chapter Seven: Ryker

**Chapter Seven**: _Ryker_

That same night, Nick got to his home approximately at 11: 30 P.M. completely exhausted. He expected to just go to bed and tell everything to Carlski tomorrow, but he got an unexpected surprise. In his house, waiting for him, was a muscular man, with short and spiky blond hair with green on the spikes, slightly taller than Nick, and dressed in a black sleeveless shirt with black pants tucked into a pair of black boots. Nick would've pulled out a gun and pointed it right at the stranger if he had had one.

"Stay calm, stay calm." The man told Nick.

"Who the hell are you?" Nick asked right away.

"My name is Ryker Smith. I'm an ex-military marine."

"And what do you want with me?"

"Revolution." Ryker replied firmly.

"What do you mean…?" The skeptical Nick questioned.

"We are going to bring Ansem down baby!"

"And why do you come to me? How do you now where I live?"

"Relax man! You ask too many questions, I know what you've been up to lately."

"What I've been up to?"

"You know…the whole 'investigation' thing going on…"

"Listen, I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm going to call the police if you don't leave right now."

"Do you seriously think more Heartless are gonna help you now? I could easily tell them everything I know about your investigation and they'd steal your heart in the blink of an eye. I would be the hero, and they won't even bother to ask how I knew all this."

"So what do you know?"

"Just enough to know that you have some rebellious ideas going on in that big brain of yours. So I figured you'd wanna help me out."

"You mean start a war against the Heartless? Are you crazy!? Us two against the world!? Forget it."

"No rookie, you got it all wrong. It's not just the two of us. You'd be surprised to know how many people in the world have a thing against Heartless. I already got about five-hundred troops gathered around the globe."

"Five-hundred!?"

"Yeah, you're not alone in this fight against Ansem."

"Whoa whoa whoa, wait a minute; I haven't said anything yet."

"Come on, I know you wanna."

"Besides, how do you spy on everyone that joins you?"

"Well…you see…when you're a marine or military or whatever for a long time you…well…you get a few black magic powers…"

"Oh I see, you're a fugitive aren't you?"

"Well…yes…no…kind of. Anyways, enough chit-chat Bolsey; what do you say you in or out?"

"Give me some time to think about it."

"Right… Thought so. Well, while you 'think about it' I'm gonna go recruit some others that have already 'made up their minds'. I'll see ya 'round rookie!"

Ryker then turned into a dark sphere of energy and disappeared. Nick went to his bedroom and prepared for whatever was ahead of him tomorrow morning.


	8. Chapter Eight: Mitos the Time Keeper

**Chapter Eight**: _Mitos the Time Keeper_

The next morning Nick got in his Flyer as soon as he changed and drove off towards the university he used to work in. As soon as he got there, he hopped off his Flyer without even parking.

"Hey, hey! You didn't park your Flyer Mister!" The security guard yelled at Nick.

Nick desperately ran through the school's hallways. He saw a student and avoided bumping into her by slightly pushing her aside.

"Hey! Watch it, you jerk!" She cried out loud.

Nick didn't mind any insults or anything. He didn't mind getting a parking ticket for not parking outside either. He had already been fired so he couldn't be fired again. He continued running frantically trying to remember which class Stephen was taking right now.

"Let's see, let's see. Today is Tuesday and first class on Tuesday is history. After that is chemistry, then…"

Nick stopped running to gasp for air. He leaned his hand on the wall and the other on his hip. He sighed and closed his eyes shut facing the roof trying to remember the next class.

"Bolsey! Hey, how are you?"

Nick turned around and saw principal Shawmore talking to him.

"Oh, hey Mr. Shawmore."

"Hey I've been wanting to talk to you about…well…we haven't been able to find a good substitute for history class and I was wondering if…well…if…"

"Not right now Mr. Shawmore, I gotta run!"

Nick sped off but then he remembered something—principal Shawmore knew the classes. He stopped instantly and turned around heading back towards the principal.

"Mr. Shawmore wait!"

"Yes?" Shawmore asked turning around to look at Nick.

"Do you know what class Stephen Carlski is taking right now?"

"Ah yes, well in fact, Mr. Carlski didn't attend today."

As Nick looked into Mr. Shawmore's eyes, he caught a very quick glimpse of what he thought was a Heartless. He continued to stare at the spot he had seen the strange Heartless in. He got so distracted that he forgot he was talking to Mr. Shawmore.

"Hello? Mr. Bolsey? Mr. Bolsey? Woohoo, Mr. Bolsey?"

The principal even had to snap his fingers for Nick to react.

"Oh, yeah, yeah. So where were we?" The former history teacher asked.

"I was just telling you that Stephen Carlski didn't come today."

"Oh… Well thanks Mr. Shawmore. Goodbye."

Nick then hurried out of the university and as the security guard approached him to tell him he had a parking ticket, Nick snatched it off his hand and entered the Flyer.

"Thanks a lot guard." The rushed Nick said.

He then drove away from the parking lot and into the streets again. But on his way to Carlski's home; the same Heartless he saw at the university sat next to him in the passenger seat.

"Whoa!" Nick exclaimed in shock.

The Heartless had just popped out of nowhere. It was one of those Heartless similar to the police Heartless with a human figure but completely dark like a shadow Heartless and with the same yellow eyes without the antennas.

"Calm down. My name is Mitos, I shape the future."

"Yeah…well Mitos, why don't you wait for a red light?"

Mitos snapped his fingers and everything suddenly froze except for him and Nick.

"Ok…how did you just…"

"Do that? As I was saying, I am the crafter of the future. I shape the futures of those whose futures cannot be shaped by themselves. And Stephen Carlski's was one of them."

"Does this have anything to do with his absence today?"

"Yes, you see, I took his heart from him."

"You what!? You call that shaping a destiny!?"

"You do not understand; let me take you to the beginning."

_Everything suddenly turned pitch black. Even Mitos disappeared, but Nick could still hear his voice inside his head. Then the darkness began to turn into some sort of flashback scene. It was pre-Heartless when the worlds were still apart. Nick was in Hollow Bastion. He was at the library, and suddenly everything began to shake. A group of people began to run frantically down the stairs. Five of them to be exact. But the real shocking part was when the man on the front of the group ran right through Nick._

_"Relax Nick; this is nothing but my memory. You are a phantasm to them. You are not there."_

_Mitos said it just in time because he was about to panic. A column in the library broke down and was about to fall on one of the two females of the group trying to escape. A spiky-haired blond man with a bandaged sword leaped in front of the woman right away._

_"AERIS!!!!!!!!!" The man cried._

_He sliced the column in half with his big sword. He then pushed the woman to gather with the rest of the group. Heartless began to appear just like they did in Hollow Bastion's castle yesterday. The rest of the group was way ahead and had already left the library. But the blond warrior stayed in the crumbling place slashing through endless Heartless._

_"What are these things!?" The nervous man asked himself out loud._

_He decided he couldn't finish off all of the Heartless and made a giant leap over them and exited the library. The group couldn't be found; he searched desperately but couldn't find them. Nick exited the library along with the warrior to continue to see the rest of the memory. But then another man ran past him trying to escape the ruined castle. It was a brown-haired man about the size of Nick around his 20s. Nick continued to run out the castle. In the sky was a large, dark sphere absorbing everything with a powerful wind. Among the turmoil, the blond man continued to search for his friends but couldn't find them. The outside of the castle was filled with horrified people running around everywhere—some even getting sucked by the wind into the dark sphere._

_"AERIS!!!!!!! LEON!!!!!!!!! YUFFIE!!!!!! CID!!!!!!!!" The man screamed in despair._

_He fell on his knees as tears fell down his cheeks. But in no time the strong winds pulled him from the ground._

_"NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! AERIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"_

_The blond man screamed as he got sucked into the gigantic dark sphere._ _After that, Nick turned his look towards the other man that had run through him. The man got caught by the spreading Heartless and got his heart stolen. But as his heart was halfway out of his chest, he and the Heartless got sucked up into the sphere as well._

Then everything turned back to Nick in his Flyer with time frozen by Mitos in the passenger seat.

"You were that blond fighter?" Nick asked looking at Mitos.

"No, that was another Hollow Bastion civilian. His name was Cloud. I was that other guy who got his heart halfway taken out of his chest and then sucked up into the sphere. That you just saw was when the Heartless got to Hollow Bastion. But not long after that the sphere disappeared. The Heartless couldn't find the Hollow Bastion keyhole…obviously. So the world wasn't destroyed. Just deserted. Everyone got sucked up into the sphere and ended up in different worlds like any other occasion when a world is destroyed…except for me."

"What happened to you?"

"Half of my heart was taken by the Heartless. The Heartless turned that half into a Heartless. The other half was left in my soulless body. My soul got turned into a Nobody. My half-hearted shell got turned into a N.E.O. instead of going into the Twilight because I still had half a heart. It took me some time, but in the end I finally merged the Heartless, Nobody, and my shell into one. This was the result. A Heartless Nobody N.E.O."

"Wow, that's super weird."

"Tell me about it. I can take hearts, souls, and I have N.E.O. powers. The mix of those three abilities turned me into the Time Keeper."

Before one more word could be said, Mitos disappeared and time returned back to normal. Nick was left to whisper to himself once again.

"Hmm…Mitos the Time Keeper…"


	9. Chapter Nine: A New Enigmatic Man

**Chapter Nine**: _New Enigmatic Man_

There was darkness. Total darkness. Pitch black darkness. Stephen floated through the darkness without purpose. He wandered through the darkness half consciously. His arms and legs were completely loose. His neck was loose as well. His eyelids were halfway closed. He felt…sleepy. But then he found the light. A small, bright light called out to him. The same deep voice of the unknowns.

"Come forth, Stephen." It called out to him.

Those same words repeated themselves over and over again slowly. Stephen was lost in turmoil, but he slowly floated towards the light. Finally reaching it. When he did, the light disappeared and a long table appeared. Many coated figures began to appear as well. Stephen was so weakened that he couldn't even count how many of them there were. Each of them took a seat on wooden chairs that appeared around the long wooden table as they approached it. Finally, on the opposite end of the table a final chair appeared. And some strange gravitation forced Stephen unto it. Facing the Enigmatic Man at the other end of the table.

"Welcome Stephen." That same man said.

The others said the same. All of the cloaked people began to remove their hoods, revealing their faces. Namine and Axel were among them. The only hooded person to not remove their hood was the one at the opposite end of the table Stephen faced.

"Heh heh, let's see what this guy's reaction is. I bet it's worth gold." Axel made fun of Stephen.

"Of course it is, he's one weird fella. He ignored the you-know-what. This is gonna be very painful for him." Another one of the males continued to tease.

"Axel, Vixen, don't be so hard on him. We were all new once." Namine replied.

"Yeah, but we didn't become N.E.O. in such a weird way he did. Last weird case like this was the chief's. And I bet we all know why…" Vixen remarked.

Stephen was dumbfounded, he couldn't see right, everything was blurry, and he couldn't remember much about himself. He couldn't remember himself as Stephen Carlski, only as Steve. He could differ the voices of Axel, Vixen, and Namine apart, but he couldn't tell which was which.

"Enough, children." The man at the end of the table ordered.

He seemed to be the leader Axel and Vixen were talking about. It was pretty obvious that by having the hood on, the Organization members had the same deep voice, but by removing it, their real voices were revealed. Axel and Vixen stuck their tongues out at Namine who crossed her arms in frustration. The four of them, including the mysterious leader were like a dysfunctional family.

"We are reunited here for a greater cause than arguing. We are here to welcome the newcomer, Stephen Carlski."

"Huh... Me… I am… I am Ste-Stephen…" The semi-hypnotized Stephen mumbled.

"Namine, finish the memory wipe." The leader ordered.

Namine nodded and stood up from her seat. She walked towards Steve and opened her right hand wide and put it on Steve's forehead. With her left hand, she closed her fingers except for her index and middle fingers and put them over her mouth and nose. She closed her eyes and faced the "floor". A small burst of light could be seen emerging from Namine's right hand and the tips of her left index and middle fingers were glowing the same way as well.

"What will be his new name?" She asked, staying in the same position without moving a muscle.

"Dyler." The leader stated.

"Dyler? What kinda cheap name is that boss?" Axel asked right away.

"Quiet, Axel. Before I make you give him his tour." The leader replied.

"You are not Stephen Carlski. You are not Stephen. You are not Carlski. You are not Steve. You are not Steve Carlski. You are not Mr. Carlski." Namine whispered to "Dyler".

"You… are Dyler."

Meanwhile, Nick got back home now that he knew Steve wasn't going to be at his home. He heard the TV on, and walked in to see who was sitting on the sofa changing the channels with the remote. It was none other than Ryker.

"Hey, I heard about your friend Steve. What a shame, I wanted him to join the Seekers." The ex-marine remarked.

He turned off the TV and turned his head to look at Nick.

"He's a student! You were going to recruit a student to join a war and get killed!?"

"Relax, chump. I never did. I was going to though. But that's when Mitos told me he had to get a 'heart transplant' urgently."

"You know Mitos?"

"Yeah. I'm one of those who had to get my future 'crafted' by him. I see you know him as well. Did you have to get your future crafted?"

"No, I met him today when he told me about what he did to Steve."

"Meh, you're one lucky guy I tell ya. You don't know what it's like to have Mitos all over your ass. Anyways, about the…uh, 'job offer' I made you; what do ya say? Feel up to killing some Heartless scum rookie?"

"Do I even have to tell you? It's not like you gave me any choice…"

"Yeah you're right Bolsey. Well, get ready, tomorrow morning you're one of the Seekers boy!"

And with that, Ryker disappeared the same way he had done last time he and Nick met. It was time to join the revolution.


	10. Chapter Ten: Revolution

**Chapter Ten**: _Revolution_

"I'm out Nick! Reload!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

Nick reloaded Ryker's assault rifle and handed it back to him. He then continued to move while staying under cover to reach out for a plasma grenade. It looked like a silver can with a hook on top. He removed the hook, and threw it far away towards the platoon of Heartless. He heard the huge explosion's roar and the destruction of at least one-hundred Heartless. Plasma grenades were very powerful and should only be used in case of emergencies like these ones.

"Ahhhhhhh! Help me!!!!!!!!" Nick heard a soldier cry.

Unlucky soldiers would get their hearts stolen by Heartless that would leap over their cover. Nick grabbed the soldier's assault rifle, loaded it full, and unleashed a massive flow of laser bullets on the Heartless. Many were jumping trying to get him, but he would shoot them before they did. But then came the more advanced Heartless. The ones like the police, just that these were military soldiers and not cops. They got Nick and shot him on the leg. He cried out in pain after shooting the more approximate Heartless. He then leaned under his cover and sighed. He began to remember what had happened since he joined the Seekers.

_It had been a month since Nick became a Seeker—Ryker's revolution organization name. Since then, many more people joined. And there were nearly 500, 000 Seekers already. Three months in, the Seekers became official. They fought their first battle with 45, 000 men against 20, 000 Heartless police officers. Of course, they won. There were only about ten casualties. Two more months after that, the revolution really began to get strange. Mitos joined the Seekers as an undercover spy pretending to be a Heartless and three N.E.O. unofficially joined the Seekers. Meaning, they weren't Seekers but they helped them once in a while. One N.E.O. was Namine, the other was Axel, and the other was one that Nick had never seen before called Dyler. Dyler had brown, spiky hair, blue eyes, and had the ability to cause earthquakes. Namine had powers like gravitation, force field, and memory wipe. And Axel had fire powers._

Returning back to reality, Nick realized a field medic was patching his leg up. Just then, Namine entered the fight. She kicked all the Heartless that approached her, spinning in the air and making flips. She also sent them flying into the air and provided force fields for those soldiers who didn't have cover. The good thing about Namine's force fields was that the person inside the force fields could fire at the enemy, but the enemy couldn't enter the force field. Namine continued to fight her way through the massive swarms of endless Heartless like a martial artist ballerina. Nick spotted Axel and Dyler watching from atop a building and Mitos on another rooftop. Then, Mitos froze time. To Nick's surprise, the N.E.O. could still move in addition to him and Mitos.

Namine continued to fight the Heartless now that they were frozen but Mitos, Axel, and Dyler continued to watch from above. Nick took advantage and grabbed his assault rifle and shot the frozen Heartless even though it took forever for the lasers to hit them. Namine then looked back at Nick, and she nodded at him. She then disappeared along with Axel and Dyler, so Mitos returned time back to normal.

"Nick, use the rocket launcher!" Ryker yelled at Nick from far away.

"Yes sir!"

The former historian obeyed and grabbed the big metal weapon and picked a target. He pointed at the center of the war zone. Namine reappeared and made one big force field that covered her along with all of the coverless Seekers. Nick pressed the trigger. A missile launched directly out of the bulky weapon on Nick's shoulder and flew straight to where Nick was pointing. An enormous explosion ensued, and hundreds of thousands of Heartless were destroyed with a single blow. This was a rebel's normal day at war. This was the revolution.


	11. Chapter Eleven: Revelations

**Chapter Eleven**: _Revelations_

At one of the underground Seeker war camps, Nick was sleeping in his cabin, getting some rest while he could. It wouldn't be long before he had to go fight another battle again. It wasn't easy knowing that any day could be your last. But this night, Nick couldn't get any sleep. He couldn't help but ask himself all the questions about the weird things that had started to happen ever since his life stopped being normal. Who exactly were the Enigmatic Men? What was their purpose? Where was Ansem? What were the N.E.O. hiding from? And many more questions that would take years to list.

"Can't sleep Bolsey?"

Nick turned around to see Ryker was talking to him from the doorway to his cabin.

"It's just…I have so many questions…"

"Hmf… Try me."

Nick looked at Ryker in the eye.

"Are you serious?"

"Of course rookie, I've known Mitos for some time after all..."

"Well, ok. What are the N.E.O. hiding from?"

"The Nobodies. They are soulless N.E.O. All N.E.O. are soulless, but these are the equivalent of Heartless in the Twilight."

"The Twilight? What's that as well?"

"The Twilight is the world in-between. There is the door to the world of darkness, the door to the world of light, and…some entrance…to the world in-between. The soul goes to the world in between and becomes a soulless, and the body becomes a shell, a neutral version of yourself in the Twilight."

"So in each world there's a version of everyone?"

"Yes. In the world of darkness there's a dark version of you, and a part of that becomes the darkness in your heart. When a Heartless takes your heart, that darkness becomes a Heartless. The light in your heart becomes a light version of you in the world of light, and then the soul and body go to the world in-between."

"So what exactly are the members of the Organization?"

"They're shells that came to this world."

"How?"

"The same way one goes in, one goes out. That is something I don't think anybody knows."

"Ansem knows. I found a letter from Namine written to Ansem. It seems Ansem was looking for something in the Twilight and promised to tell the Organization how to go back to the Twilight. But he betrayed them."

"Figures…"

"And now he found the Paradise he was looking for. That's apparently why the Organization is still here after so long. They're stranded in this world forever."

"Well that explains how the Nobodies can reach this world. Ansem must've left the entrance to this world open for a reason. Possibly so that the Nobodies would find the Organization and destroy it."

"And what exactly did the Organization want in the first place?"

"They wanted Sora to be one of them. For unknown reasons. But they achieved it."

"Wow. Excellent revelations. Thanks Ryker."

"No problem rookie. Try to get some sleep. I hear an army of Heartless is getting near so we're leaving in two hours."

After that, Ryker left back to his own cabin. Nick lay on his bed excited that he was finally close to solving this crazy puzzle.

"Excellent revelations indeed…" He told himself.


	12. Chapter Twelve: Light within the Darknes...

**Chapter Twelve**: _Light within the Darkness_

That same night, Nick had a strange dream. He was once again in yet another completely dark and endless place. And then he saw Stephen. His back facing Nick. Nick ran to him as fast as he could, but the faster he went, the further Steve got. He continued to run until Steve disappeared into the shadows. Then out of nowhere, Dyler appeared in front of him with his hood down. Being so close to the N.E.O. for the first time made him realize how similar Dyler was to Stephen from up close.

"Steve?" Nick asked in turmoil.

Dyler shook his head.

"I am Stephen Carlski no more. Stephen Carlski is dead. I am Dyler. The new Key Master."

"What!?"

"You heard me; I am the one who shall wield one of the Keyblades!"

"Wait wait, _one_? You mean there are other Keyblades!?"

"Yes, one for each world. The Keyblade of light, the Keyblade of darkness, the Keyblade of the present world, and the Keyblade of Twilight."

"So which one are you wielding?"

"So many questions…"

Suddenly, Dyler began to evoke an earthquake. The surprising thing was that it was all darkness but there was still an earthquake on the "floor" that Dyler and Nick were stepping on. Since Dyler was the one causing the earthquake, he couldn't be unbalanced by it. He stood still like if nothing was happening.

"Steve…" Nick muttered.

He was getting unbalanced by the strong quake that it was pushing him back. He got further and further apart from Dyler. He didn't know why but he knew something bad was going to happen if the earthquake kept pushing him apart from Dyler.

"Steve…"

Nick continued to move aback until…

"STEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

…he fell as if he was falling off a cliff. Just that it was still only pitch black darkness. He continued to fall and fall as Dyler approached the "edge" of the "cliff" and looked down on him. Right then, Nick woke up. He sat up on his bed in cold sweat and gasping for breath.

"A Keyblade for each world…"

When dawn reached the sky, it was time for another battle against countless of Heartless. Amidst the confusion and destruction of war, Nick ran indoors. But then he remembered, he was fighting in Hollow Bastion! Hollow Bastion was a quick route into the city so Ryker decided to clear the Heartless army moving down from Hollow Bastion. Nick then realized that the doorbridge had lowered when he was going inside!

"Someone is inside the castle!" Nick yelled in excitement.

He ran up some stairs until he reached the library. It was dusty, but exactly as in Mitos' memory. He then found a book called "Facts of the Keyblade History". But Nick was shocked to see who had written the book.

"Th-th-this is impossible…"

"No, not impossible; just inexplicable." A voice said from behind.

Nick turned around and saw another hooded N.E.O.

"Who are you?"

"The one who wrote the book."

"Wait, so you're…"

"Shhh, I'm no longer that person. Now I'm known as Tilson. I am the leader of the Organization."

Suddenly, some strange creatures began to appear in the library. They weren't Heartless, but they were similar in shape and size. They were white, with a different symbol on their foreheads and many zippers. They could shift shapes and were very acrobatic. They appeared from silverish white portal on the walls instead of the floor like the Heartless.

"Wha-what are these things!?" Nick nervously asked.

Tilson didn't answer, but he got in a fighting stance. He then unleashed an arsenal of punch, kick, and flip moves unto the white creatures. He high-kicked one and then sent him flying backwards with that same foot while sweeping the floor with it in an instant. He then spun in the air and punched the creatures while he let out his fists open wide. Every creature that approached him got punched by the punch spin. He continued to launch crazy moves on the monsters but he soon got caught in a dead end with Nick.

"What are we going to do now?"

Tilson snatched Nick's weapon from his hand and glued his finer on the trigger. After a while, he looked back at Nick.

"Reload!"

Nick nodded, and took out another cartridge of ammo. The not-yet-hoodless Tilson reloaded the machine gun and unleashed another round.

"Reload!" Tilson yelled with his deep voice due to the hood six minutes later.

But Nick was out of cartridges. As more infinite white creatures approached the helpless men, Tilson desperately strafed at the closest creatures.

"I guess I have no other choice…" He said to himself.

Tilson dropped the ammo-less machine gun on the floor and opened his arms wide. A Keyblade appeared in each hand. He then proceeded to slashing any and every one of those white creatures he could find. Trying to remain calm, Nick examined the two Keyblades Tilson had. One was a Kingdom Key on the left hand, and apparently another Kingdom Key with opposite colors on the right.

"Tilson!"

"Yeah?" Tilson replied as he continued to slash the white monsters.

"Are you the dual wielder mentioned in most history books nowadays?" Nick asked curiously.

"No…and I never was…"

After that, Tilson continued to hack away at the creatures until he had finally finished them all.

"How do you have those Keyblades?" Nick asked right away.

Tilson exhaustedly made the Keyblades vanish once again and squeezed his knees tight with his hands, gasping for air.

"Because…didn't you already see the author of that book? I wrote that book, I used to be that person. But now I'm a Non-Existent-One so I am no longer…that person…and now I'm Tilson. Period."

Then the tired Tilson began to evaporate into black smoke. He was leaving back to where the rest of the Organization was.

"Wait, Tilson!"

"What now?"

"Where do I find the answers? Who is ruling this world? I must know, we shall not be a Heartless colony anymore."

"That is not the Organization's problem."

"But you are helping us!"

"Because we must."

"Then do so now!"

"Fine…in order to find the answers you are looking for, you must find the light within the darkness."

And after that, what was left of Tilson were black fumes. Nick began to think of that riddle. Trying to figure it out—but he couldn't. But then he realized, he was in a library. He might as well read some books to shed some light on the situation.


End file.
